$Id: README,v 1.26 2007/04/10 15:43:25 mpeppler Exp $
DBD::Sybase -- a Sybase DBI driver for Perl 5.
Copyright (c) 1996-2007 Michael Peppler
You may distribute under the terms of either the GNU General Public
License or the Artistic License, as specified in the Perl README file.
This Sybase DBI driver is built using the Sybase OpenClient Client
Library (aka CT-library). You will need to have that installed before
you can do anything with this package. You will also need Tim Bunce's
DBI module, latest release. DBI is available from CPAN, in
"CPAN"/authors/id/TIMB/DBI-1.xx-tar.gz
The Sybase OpenClient libraries are of course available from Sybase.
See http://www.sybase.com or http://www.peppler.org for details.
An alternative is to use the FreeTDS reimplementation of Client Library.
With FreeTDS DBD::Sybase can be used to query a MS-SQL 7 or 2000
database server from a Unix/linux host.
See http://www.freetds.org for details.
If you use FreeTDS please read the README.freetds file.
DBD::Sybase is a reasonably complete implementation of the DBI spec, but
there are still some features that are missing. Please see the DBD::Sybase
man page for details.
The full write-ups of the bugs that are listed in the CHANGES file as "fixed"
can be seen at http://www.peppler.org/bugdb
Getting Help
============
If you are stuck please start by searching the Web, the appropriate
mailing lists and my bug database, as it is likely that someone else
will have experienced the same problem before you. Hint: Google is
your friend :-)
The sybperl-l mailing list is dedicated to Sybase perl issues and
covers both the sybperl modules (Sybase::CTlib, etc.) and DBD::Sybase.
It is archived and searchable at http://www.peppler.org/archive/sybperl-l/
If after seaching you still don't find any solution then post a question
(with as much detail as possible) to either dbi-users@perl.org,
sybperl-l@peppler.org or freetds@lists.ibiblio.org (only use the
latter if you use the FreeTDS libraries with DBD::Sybase).
For recent changes please see the CHANGES file.
Building:
---------
Make sure that the SYBASE environment variable points to the Sybase
installation that you want to use for this build. The easiest way
to do this is to source the SYBASE.sh/SYBASE.csh or SYBASE.bat file
in the root directory of the Sybase installation you want to use.
This version attempts to find out which libraries it needs by looking
at $SYBASE/lib ($SYBASE/$SYBASE_OCS/lib for ASE 12.x installations.)
This behaviour works on Unix and VMS systems, but on Win32 you still
have to edit the CONFIG file the old way).
It assumes that $SYBASE is set and points to
the Sybase installation directory that you want to use to build
DBD::Sybase, and will also use the value of $SYBASE_OCS if it is set.
Then run
perl Makefile.PL
You will be prompted to choose build options (chained mode for AutoCommit,
threaded libraries when using a threaded perl) and for server/user/pwd
to use for the "make test" step.
If there were warnings about missing libraries, go to the manual
configuration, below.
Run
make
If the make failed, go to the manual configuration, below.
Run
make test
If this succeeds you can install the package, via
make install
(which you probably have to run as root.)
Manual Configuration:
---------------------
If the automatic configuration fails, then you will have to edit the
CONFIG file, and set the EXTRA_LIBS entry according to your OS and
Sybase release, and then run
perl Makefile.PL --file
The CONFIG file can be used to set certain system variables that
are needed for the build.
SYBASE is the root directory of your Sybase installation. DBD::Sybase
will use $SYBASE/lib and $SYBASE/include during the build.
EXTRA_LIBS lists any extra libraries that are required on your
system. For example, Solaris 2.x needs -ltli. See your OS specific
documentation supplement from Sybase to determine what is required.
DBI_INCLUDE is the directory where DBI installed its include files.
Makefile.PL will normally deduce this directory from perl's Config
module, so you only need to set this if Makefile.PL fails.
LINKTYPE. Uncomment and set to 'static' if you want to build
DBD::Sybase statically (ie always included in a new perl binary).
Edit PWD, and set the user, password and server that you want to use for the
'make test'.
Run perl Makefile.PL, make, make test.
If everything's fine, run "make install" to move the files to your
installed perl library tree.
Automated build with no prompts:
--------------------------------
You can run Makefile.PL with command line arguments to accept defaults
and build DBD::Sybase in an automated manner (without prompts).
The syntax is:
perl Makefile.PL --accept_test_defaults --chained {Y, N} --threaded_libs {Y, N}
Known Problems:
===============
Solaris 2.x:
-----------
On Solaris 2.x make test will fail if LD_LIBRARY_PATH is set and has
/usr/lib or /lib before $SYBASE/lib. This is because both Solaris 2.x
and Sybase have a library called libintl.so, and if /usr/lib is placed
before $SYBASE/lib in LD_LIBRARY_PATH the dynamic loader will search
the wrong library when loading DBD::Sybase. In general it is not
necessary to set LD_LIBRARY_PATH on Solaris, and it is only rarely
necessary to include /usr/lib or /lib in the LD_LIBRARY_PATH as those
directories will be searched by default.
Linux:
------
If the LANG or LC_ALL environment variable is set and points to an
entry that does not exist in $SYBASE/locales/locales.dat (in the
[linux] section) then you may get a core dump. This is an
OpenClient problem.
See http://www.peppler.org/FAQ/linux.html#q1.14 for
additional details.
FreeTDS:
--------
See the README.freetds file for details.
Regression Tests:
-----------------
The regression tests cover the normal operations, but can't check
for all combination of data and access modes. You should always test
with your own scripts/data before moving a new release into production.
NOTE: t/fail.t will *fail* on test #8 if you are connecting to
an 11.0.3.3 server. This is a bug in the server, and not something
that I can do anything about, unfortunately. It's a fairly
obscure constraint violation condition - read the code if
you are interested.
I have a simple bug tracking database at http://www.peppler.org/bugdb
You can use it to check for known problems, and to report new ones.
See perldoc DBD::Sybase for details about the package.
Comments, criticism, etc. welcome!
Michael
--
Michael Peppler
mpeppler@peppler.org
http://www.peppler.org/